Meditating helps students get better grades

Meditating for just six minutes before going to lectures could help students
get better grades, according to research.

Photo: Alamy

By news agencies

10:31AM BST 12 Apr 2013

A study of university students in California found that those who practised the art of Zen scored better on tests, reports journal Mindfulness.

They also found students who meditated before classes were able to focus better and concentrate for longer.

In one experiment, the meditation even predicted which students passed and which students failed the quiz.

The research was found to work better on first year students, leading researchers to speculate that younger students who struggle to concentrate could benefit more from meditation.

George Mason University, Virgina, professor Robert Youmans, who co-lead the study with University of Illinois doctoral student Jared Ramsburg, said: "One difficulty for researchers who study meditation is that the supposed benefits of meditation do not always replicate across different studies or populations, and so we have been trying to figure out why.

"This data from this study suggest that meditation may help students who might have trouble paying attention or focusing.

"Sadly, freshmen classes probably contain more of these types of students than senior courses because student populations who have difficulty self-regulating are also more likely to leave the university."

Researchers believe with more extensive training and coaching that the results could improve.

"I think that if mindfulness can improve mental clarity, focus and self-discipline, then it might be useful in a variety of settings and for a variety of goals."

Researchers believe taking long walks in the morning to plan out your day could have the same positive effects as meditation.

Mr Ramsburg added: "Basically, becoming just a little bit more mindful about yourself and your place in the world might have a very important, practical benefit - in this case, doing better in college."